Shaping sustainable cities in the Networked Society

Shaping sustainable cities in the Networked Society

Introduction The world population is expected to soar to more than 9 billion people by 2050, with roughly 70 percent living in cities, according to the United Nations. 1 At the same time, Information and Communication Technology (ICT) is extending its reach, with rapid deployment of broadband networks and most countries adopting national broadband plans to seize the potential of new technologies. Ericsson envisions that by 2020 there will be more than 50 billion connected devices globally. answer that question by describing how the infrastructure in the Networked Society is a key enabler to solve global challenges faced by our cities, which have a vital role in helping to shape a low-carbon economy. We also explore how transformative ICT solutions are being deployed across industry segments as diverse as transport, building, utilities, health, banking, and the public sector. These two parallel trends the explosive growth of cities and the rapid uptake of broadband and ICT are intersecting at a time in which the world faces serious economic, environmental, and social challenges to achieving a more sustainable development. In the Networked Society, future cities can thrive without taking a huge toll on already scarce resources. Continuous transformation In the Networked Society, people, knowledge, devices and information are networked for the progress of people, business and society. Fresh approaches are leveraged for higher efficiency and richer experiences in short, a continuous transformation powered by collaboration and creativity. Cities are a major source of global innovation, and increasingly provide the solutions to help make the world more sustainable. Solutions from e- health, telecommuting and videomeetings, to mobile applications can support citizens to choose a sustainable lifestyle. These new approaches address negative trends such as climate change and social inequity, but have been limited in their uptake, partly because existing policies and incentives lock us into traditional, non-sustainable patterns of doing things. What elements need to be in place for sustainable cities in the Networked Society to deliver on their full promise? This paper aims to Just getting started We are only on the brink of the Networked Society, which will have a major impact on how our cities evolve. Ericsson has launched the Technology for Good program to reinforce how technology can be a force for good in the world, good for business, and to create an engagement platform with our stakeholders in order to develop the initiatives that will play a major role in redefining how we live our lives in the world s future cities connected as never before, but with a much lighter footprint on a fragile planet. 2

Networked society the key to sustainable cities In a sustainable city, leaders, policy makers and city officials are guided by the need for a holistic, long-term approach to sustainable development, and they actively work toward this goal. Sustainable development is widely regarded as development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs 2. At Ericsson sustainable development involves the simultaneous pursuit of economic prosperity, environmental performance and social equity known as the triple bottom line and is a continually evolving process where the destination is a set of characteristics of a future system. 3 These characteristics include employment rates, business investments, innovation, access to healthcare and education, tonnes of CO 2 per person, clean water and air, and access to safe food, raw material usage, waste recycling, data availability, social inclusion, and crime levels. In the Networked Society, most of the world population will live within a culture defined by increased openness, transparency, knowledge sharing, peer collaboration and global self-organization. This will fundamentally change the way we orchestrate capabilities in society to innovate and collaborate, to create goods and services, to govern, and to sustain. ICT has the potential to converge into a single creative network critical for sustainable development. 3

Cities at center of sustainable solutions development Cities have become the engine for humanity and drive development in all industries. Some 50,000 people across the globe move from rural to urban areas every day. The global urbanization trend makes cities focal points for future investments. With more than US$350 trillion forecasted to be invested 4 over the next 30 years in providing basic infrastructure, cities have the opportunity to accelerate investments in projects that tap the transformative potential of ICT to build cities that are more economically, environmentally and socially sound. 5 This requires a bold vision the difference between taking a giant leap and a small step forward. In a transformative solution, a physical meeting becomes a virtual meeting. In an incremental solution, a transportation system is optimized. So far most cities have taken small steps missing the chance for reinvention. Too often, increased connectivity has accelerated unsustainable trends or marginally improved existing systems, rather than unleashing the imagination to envision an entirely new way of conducting the life of a city. Now, two changes are turning transformative solutions into concrete opportunities. Society has accepted the magnitude of the challenges before us. For example, the debate on whether climate change exists has largely subsided; today s focus is how to cope with it Fixed and mobile broadband infrastructure deployment is increasingly ubiquitous. The quality of connectivity is now at a point where we can realize the full benefits of a networked city. The early days of video conferencing were an exercise in frustration; today, telepresence and web conferencing are increasingly the norm. Transformative CO 2 reductions Incremental CO 2 reductions 4

Boosting the triple bottom line with broadband Broadband is an engine for growth while helping cities meet the three-pronged goals of sound environmental, social and economic development. A study conducted jointly by Ericsson, Arthur D. Little and Chalmers University of Technology in 33 OECD countries during 2011, quantifies the isolated impact of broadband speed. Doubling the broadband speed for an economy increases GDP by 0.3 percent, the study showed. A 0.3 percent GDP growth in the OECD region is equivalent to USD 126 billion. Both broadband availability and speed are strong drivers in an economy. In 2010, Ericsson and Arthur D. Little concluded that for every 10 percentage point increase in broadband penetration, GDP increases by 1 percent 6. In light of these findings, Ericsson has launched the Networked Society City Index 7. This framework provides city mayors, local authorities and decision makers with a tool to measure and assess a city s ICT maturity and the resulting triplebottom-line benefits. ICT maturity reflects ICT investment, taking into account network penetration, performance and level of use in each city assessed. The index can be used to inspire dialogue with decision makers on how to use ICT to enable organizational and societal success. For example, it looks at how ICT can be part of increasing the access to and quality of healthcare and education, creating jobs, mobile money or virtual banks, reducing CO 2 emissions and other greenhouse gases, optimizing resources such as water, reducing waste, and supporting citizens sustainable lifestyles. From an environmental perspective, there are still challenges in developing an index with environmental indicators, primarily due to lack of consistent data from cities. CO 2 emissions are however reasonably well developed as an indicator. 5

Low-carbon solutions for sustainable cities Global CO 2 emissions will need to drop by some 50 to 80 percent by 2050 compared to 1990 levels, even as the world economy is expected to triple. Some 70 percent of global CO 2 emissions are estimated to come from cities. Yet national targets don t come close to these goals. 8 Cities must therefore tackle the largest carbon reductions. In 2008, the Climate Group on behalf of the Global e-sustainability Initiative (GeSI), with independent analysis by McKinsey & Company published the Smart 2020 report which found that ICT is a key sector in the fight against climate change and could enable emissions reductions of 7.8 Gt CO 2 e in 2020, or 15% of business-as-usual emissions. In economic terms, the ICT-enabled energy efficiency translates into approximately 600 billion ($946.5 billion) of cost savings. But the ICT industry must keep its own growing footprint in check to deliver on this potential. 9 Since the landmark report in 2008, combined with wide-scale broadband deployments in most parts of the world, many cities have already begun to explore transformative solutions focused on smarter ways to create the cities of the future. Here are just some of the transformational possibilities in the daily life of a city, with the smart use of ICT. Climate and energy Smart buildings that utilize connectivity for security, energy and climate monitoring, and are net producers of renewable energy Sensors that aid in climate adaptation, warning, for example, of pending storms, increased water or pollution levels Smart energy solutions that are more efficient and can improve currently very inefficient delivery in a fossil fuel-based economy Information management systems to gather, track, control, and reconfigure to optimize and manage resources such as water and energy Transportation Integrated transportation and communication solutions, to substitute and optimize travel Public sector Connecting cities with suburbs, other cities and regions E-government services, that reduce need of paper and reduce number of travels needed Health Digital health and remote monitoring solutions that support healthier lifestyles and reduce the need for travel and paper Food initiatives where it is possible to choose healthy and appetizing food with a low-carbon/ water footprint and plan meals in order to avoid waste Education Cloud based computing solutions can transform how ICT is applied in formal education (schools, universities) as well as informed, lifelong learning Sustainable lifestyles Dematerialization that allows for consumption of a service instead of a manufactured product, for example, an e-book, video on demand, or a virtual meeting Safety & security Disaster and management solutions that use remote sensor alarms alerting people at risk for severe weather or natural disasters Data availability projects that provide, for example, dynamic information to optimize systems while protecting personal integrity. This includes cloud services to optimize resources. 6

Old perspective, 20th century physical infrastructure approach; Focus on addressing current source of emissions, pollutions and other problems, often one at a time New perspective 21st century information based infrastructure approach: Focus on smarter ways to provide what we need 7

The power of ICT-enabled transformation Ericsson is deeply involved in demonstrating and measuring the transformative potential of ICT to enhance sustainable development. The Ericsson White Paper, Assessing the climate-positive effects of ICT, looks at the potential CO 2 e emission reductions of ICT-based services. A life-cycle perspective considers the environmental impact of both the ICT-based service and the service it replaces. The method includes analysis of the infrastructure of ICT systems as well as conventional systems. It introduces a figure called the potential reduction ratio, the direct emissions of the new ICT-based system in CO 2 e in relation to the enabling effects in CO 2 e, ie compared to the traditional way to deliver the service. 10 Here are two cases. ktonnes CO 2 e 200 100 2001 12.6k Employees SMART WORK 2007 11k Employees E-health in Croatia Connecting 2,400 primary healthcare teams in the 20 counties and the capital, Zagreb, the Healthcare Networking Information System provides electronic reporting and booking, updates patient records, and digitalizes prescriptions and referrals, eliminating the need for printouts when sent to pharmacies, hospitals and laboratories. The e-referral and e-prescription services can potentially reduce CO 2 e emissions by up to 15,000 tonnes per year while the two services only add 330 tonnes of CO 2 e/year from operation and manufacturing activities. The potential reduction ratio over a 20-year period is as much as 1:45, depending on whether infrastructure is included and, to what extent. Smart Work at TeliaSonera Ericsson, Swedish telecom operator TeliaSonera, and the Centre for Sustainable Communications at the Royal Institute of Technology in Sweden, pooled efforts in 2010 to attempt to quantify the ICT sector s own environmental impact and the difference it could make to other sectors. Ericsson and TeliaSonera measured the impact of TeliaSonera s use of ICT-based smart work solutions such as teleworking, flexi-working, virtual or telepresence conferencing and flexi-office. TeliaSonera s goal was to reduce air business travel, car travel and the need for office space. Using 2001 as a baseline year, the study found that between 2001-2007: Smart work initiatives reduced CO 2 e emissions (CO 2 emissions plus all other greenhouse gases and effects) by 40 percent per employee or over 2.8 tons of CO 2 e per employee per year Scaling the results to country level, the study found that similar initiatives could reduce some 20 percent of Sweden s CO 2 e by 2020 Scaling to a global level could potentially reduce global CO 2 e emissions by 2 to 4 percent, if reductions of 20 to 40 percent were achieved per employee over a 10- to 20-year timeframe. 8

case studies ICT service: CO 2 Reduction ratio: Country: m-health > 20 Sweden e-health > 45 Croatia Digital delivery Up to 200, -90% Spain Smart work - 40% Sweden Virtual presence Up to 200 Sweden, Global m-money > 65 Kenya Field Force Mgmt Up to 100 Turkey Case studies available on http://www.ericsson.com/thecompany/sustainability_corporateresponsibility/enabling_a_lowcarbon_economy/incremental_change A number of additional cases have used this methodology. 9

Innovative approaches to deliver services Cities are a tremendous source of innovation. When integrated into key strategies and policies, ICT can spark new ways to develop cities in a more sustainable direction. Top of the agenda for the design and progress of any city is to meet the strategic challenge implied in undertaking an environmental, social, and economic perspective. ICT can support a city s sustainability objectives, but identifying the roadmap raises a number of questions: How can a future-proof ICT infrastructure be built and integrated with already existing ICT systems? How can a common infrastructure provide services today and in the future to different stakeholders such as utilities, transportation, enterprises, consumers etc. in a resource- efficient way? How does one address the complexity of the eco-system, including designing a services eco-system that can scale and meet the needs of both current and future software and end-user device development? How can we meet stakeholders requirements for separation of services and different levels of security as well as the introduction of new business models? Which partners and clusters to engage with in the eco-system? How can cities, especially in developing markets, leapfrog some of the unsustainable consumption patterns by utilizing broadband infrastructure to a range of sectors that provide needed services to society? A well-conceived strategy can deliver transformative solutions in a number of areas, including transportation, utilities, education, health and enterprises. Ericsson, as a leader in building efficient ICT infrastructure, is involved in a number of interesting projects to develop future cities. Controlling the meter In Italy, Ericsson delivered a complete advanced metering management service to utility ACEA for 1.5 million electricity meters and a customized metering middleware systems integration and managed services. The benefits: a higher level of customer satisfaction, operational efficiencies, increased energy distribution optimization and efficiency, greater end-user/consumer awareness of environmental impact and improvement options and more home energy-management options. Wireless buses In Curitiba, Brazil, Ericsson provided a solution connecting public buses to 3G mobile broadband networks. The electronic ticketing and fleet management systems enable controllers to access a wide range of information about their fleet and monitors the route, stop time, speed, distance traveled, date of departure and arrival. The electronic ticketing reduces the need for paper. The fleet management system offers route optimization, reducing the fuel needed to run the fleet. Virtual work Ericsson Business Communication Suite (BCS) is a suite of applications combining voice, data and messaging services with advanced multimedia conferencing and collaboration tools into a Unified Communication (UC) offering towards the enterprise market. The Improved flexible and mobile ways of working heightens the efficiency of virtual meetings and cuts back on the need for onsite meetings, resulting in less travel. Education, up in the clouds With PC as a Service, Ericsson employs a cloud infrastructure, allowing hardware (computing), software, security and storage as a service, an innovation with exciting. possibilities for example, small to medium-sized enterprises and education. Cost of ownership shrinks by 40 percent with a lower upfront cost than traditional computing. Low power consumption is another plus. All together, the reduced total cost of ownership gives more people the opportunity to get an education. Virtual education also translates into less paper and travel. 10

Sustainable city value chain Value Layer Applications E-ticketing, E-metering, E-Government Devices Mobile Phones, NFC Devices, Touch Screen Enabling Metering, NFC Infrastructure, Toll Systems Infrastructure Buildings, Ducts, Pipes Businesses Billing Payment Transactions Billing, Accounting, Payment, (CRM) The sustainable city value chain comprises several interconnected layers relevant to ICT: Infrastructure Including high speed broadband (fixed and mobile) Enablers Support systems to enable infrastructure to work effectively (including smart metering, billing, security, application/content management, and network management systems) Devices Including PCs, phones, tablets, in-home devices that can be used to deploy smart city applications Applications to provide businesses and consumers with solutions to live and work efficiently while minimizing environmental impacts (e.g. e-ticketing, e-government, e-metering solutions). ICT Services and Lifestyle Applications Network Enabling Enabling Platform Management Network Service Enabling Residents Content Provision Application/ Content Mgmt. System Stakeholders 3rd Party Service Providers ICT Providers / Telcos Content Providers Government Municipalities A range of stakeholders need to work in partnership to develop, build and operate this complex and interconnected value chain. This includes governments, ICT infrastructure and service providers, content providers, and 3rd party service providers. Ericsson provides support for stakeholders for the different value layers. For example one of the foundations for a sustainable city is the broadband infrastructure. With that in place, a number of services and solutions can be delivered, for example: mobile healthcare, online education, and e-government. Citizens and officials realize greater opportunities for increased education levels, access to health care and to governmental services, and more efficient transportation systems. Finally, many applications can function jointly in order to Today ICT is responsible for 2% of global CO 2 emissions, but the enabling effect from a well-functioning broadband infrastructure constitutes the backbone of a low-carbon 21st century information infrastructure. In 2009 Ericsson introduced a five-year target to reduce our carbon footprint (measured per subscriber) by 40 percent, i.e. 10 percent reduction per year with 2008 as baseline. Ericsson uses a life cycle approach (LCA) and Design for Environment (DfE) techniques to identify and minimize our environmental impact.. Our LCA approach includes supplier and operator activities, offering a full picture of the value chain. This covers product use, which represents the lion s share of our carbonrelated impact. The LCA tool can model the impacts of changes introduced today over a 15-year time horizon. generate more value; for example, combining on-line mobile phone data with positioning information yields dynamic information about the transportation system such as a bus delay or traffic jam. 11

Stockholm Royal Seaport As ICT advisor to the city of Stockholm in the ambitious, world-class Stockholm Royal Seaport project, Ericsson is helping to enable a smart grid to connect the sustainable city of the future. Stockholm was the first city to be awarded the European Green Capital title in 2010. The city of Stockholm operates with a holistic vision, one which combines growth with sustainable development for the benefit of its almost 850,000 citizens. Transport emissions are relatively low, and all trains and many inner city buses run on renewable fuels. Furthermore, greenhouse gas emissions have been reduced by more than 25 percent since 1990, and the city council has the ambitious target of becoming wholly independent of fossil fuels by 2050. 11 A new urban district Stockholm Royal Seaport is being developed in east central Stockholm near the Royal National Urban Park. Between 2012 and 2030 about 10,000 homes and 30,000 workspaces will be created. Modern architecture merges with environmental thinking to create a vibrant district for sustainable living, business and recreation. The Stockholm Royal Seaport aims to be an international model for sustainable urban development. The vision is supported by four overarching goals in the areas of climate change and ecological, social and economic sustainability. Advanced ICT services will be available for those living in the Stockholm Royal Seaport to support these goals, such as reducing CO 2 emissions and changing consumption patterns. 12 The city of Stockholm has initiated Stockholm Royal Seaport Innovation, an arena for innovation, learning and cooperation within sustainable urban development. Several research and development projects have been launched with partners, including the Royal Institute of Technology, the Clinton Climate Initiative/C40, VINNOVA and companies dedicated to sustainability including Ericsson. Ericsson s contribution to the Stockholm Royal Seaport project is two-fold. The first, within the framework of Stockholm Royal Seaport Innovation, is to serve as ICT advisor to the city of Stockholm in the Stockholm Royal Seaport project and to lead the work on developing an efficient and reliable generic communication platform as well as leading the project to develop selected proof points. The generic communication platform for fixed and mobile broadband will serve different industry segments and applications in areas such as vir- tual meetings, intelligent transport solutions, e- and m-health, smart grid, education, smart consumption. The idea is to demonstrate how different ICT solutions such as substituting and optimizing transportation, virtual meetings, and health solutions can contribute to the overarching goals of Stockholm Royal Seaport. The second main contribution from Ericsson is the communication enablers in the Innovation Project such as Stockholm Royal Seaport- Smart Grid Pilot and Urban Smart Grid. This project is aimed at developing a sustainable electricity system in an urban environment and will be a platform for future business and product development. This will enable connected homes, meters, buildings, vehicles and harbours a prime example of the Networked Society. Since a smart grid also implies new business models, another goal is to build clusters to explore new business opportunities. Goals of Stockholm Royal Seaport By 2030, free of fossil fuels and climate positive Adapted to climate change High environmental and sustainability goals for all sectors 12

Creating the framework for the sustainable city Ericsson is engaged in the following areas that we have identified as necessary to enable the deployment of transformative solutions. Creating an integrated policy framework that makes the link between ICT policy and policy in other areas such as education, health, and transportation. Review of current policies that influence the provision of key services such as mobility, housing and nutrition Supporting policy makers in the creation of cross-sector ecosystems and clusters comprising companies, cities, academia, and other stakeholders. Many of today s solutions are provided by clusters of companies that have optimized their supply chains and developed their business models in a high-carbon economy. In order to enable transformative solutions, we ll need new clusters Providing pilot projects and case studies that demonstrate the ability of ICT to realize sustainable development goals, such as carbon reduction, employment, and education Accelerating technology that supports triple bottom line goals. Cities can encourage connectivity by initiating projects that explore the possibilities of the Networked Society. Leading cities, for example, can monitor use of connectivity, benchmarking against other cities and traditional service to track the triple bottom line impacts. 13

Conclusion ICT is central to the ability of cities to grow in a way that is economically, socially and environmentally sustainable meeting the goals of the triple bottom line. The generic communication platform for fixed and mobile broadband will serve different industry segments and applications, to the benefit of all sectors Policy makers and city officials have a pivotal role in identifying and implementing strategies that drive ICT as a means to strengthen the triple bottom line and provide transformative solutions for more resource-efficient delivery of services. Planning, developing and governing a city for a sustainable future requires a holistic perspective, measures impacts and adjusts directions as needed Recognizing the need for new business models and ecosystems and partnerships is essential to address the needs of the sustainable city ICT can actively meet people s needs while supporting more sustainable urban lifestyles. Strategies need to offer the right incentives to support a change in behavior. As broadband infrastructure extends its reach in every corner of the globe, we are only on the brink of what the Networked Society can deliver. With its Technology for Good program and other initiatives to shape more sustainable cities, Ericsson, as a leading ICT company, Is excited to be part of this journey. 14

REFERENCES 1 www.un.org 2 United Nations Brundtland Report, 1987 3 Hasna, A. M. (2007). Dimensions of sustainability. Journal of Engineering for Sustainable Development: Energy, Environment, and Health 2 (1): 47 57. 4 http://www.booz.com/media/uploads/wwf_low_carbon_cities.pdf 5 WWF, Booz report Reinventing the city, 2010 (http://www.slideshare.net/itsgowri/wwf-low-carboncities). 6 http://www.ericsson.com/news/1550083 7 http://www.ericsson.com/news/1514402 8 http://www.un.org/wcm/content/site/climatechange/gateway 9 http://www.smart2020.org/publications/ 10 http://www.ericsson.com/news/100301_assessing_ict_244218602_c 11 http://ec.europa.eu/environment/europeangreencapital/winning-cities/stockholm-european-green-capital-2010/index.html 12 http://www.stockholmroyalseaport.com/ Images: By courtesy of Stockholm Royal Seaport and Wallenstam / Vera Arkitekter.

Ericsson in brief Ericsson is a world-leading provider of telecommunications equipment and related services to mobile and fixed network operators globally. Over 1,000 networks in more than 180 countries utilize our network equipment and 40 percent of all mobile calls are made through our systems. We are one of the few companies worldwide that can offer end-to-end solutions for all major mobile communication standards. Communication is changing the way we live and work. Ericsson plays a key role in this evolution, using innovation to empower people, business and society. We provide communications networks, telecom services and multimedia solutions, making it easier for people all over the globe to communicate. For more information, please contact: corporate.responsibility@ericsson.com The content of this document is subject to revision without notice due to continued progress in methodology, design and manufacturing. Ericsson shall have no liability for any error or damage of any kind resulting from the use of this document Ericsson AB SE-126 25 Stockholm, Sweden Telephone +46 10 719 0000 Fax +46 8 18 40 85 www.ericsson.com Ericsson AB 2011